Reep Daggle
Chameleon (Reep Daggle), also known as Chameleon Boy, is a DC Comics superhero, a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries. Character history Silver Age Reep Daggle is from the planet Durla, where everyone has the power to change their physical form. He has orange skin, pointed ears and antennae, and has no hair in his usual humanoid form. In pre-Zero Hour continuity, he was the son of Legion financer R. J. Brande who was revealed to be a Durlan who had become frozen in human form after contracting a disease.Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #3, March 1981. and a female Durlan named Ji daggle Legion of Super-Heroes #263, May 1980. Reep did not learn that Brande was his father for many years (Brande's name was originally revealed to be Ren Daggle, but later altered after the Crisis storyline). Reep was also an exceptional detective; his deductive prowess coupled with his shapeshifting abilities led to his being named the permanent head of the Legion's Espionage Squad. Chameleon Boy was sentenced to incarceration on the prison world Takron-Galtos for his espionage activities against the Khunds, which almost led to war. He was released after his heroics against Darkseid in the Great Darkness Saga. During his incarceration, he was forced to wear binders on his antennae that canceled his shape-shifting powers, although he regained them a few months later. Following the dissolution of the Legion after volume 3, "Cham" became in volume 4 the primary force behind the reassembly of the Legion. During the "Five Year Gap" following the Magic Wars, Earth fell under the covert control of the Dominators, and withdrew from the United Planets. A few years later, the members of the Dominators' highly classified "Batch SW6" escaped captivity. Originally, Batch SW6 appeared to be a group of teeange Legionnaire clones, created from samples apparently taken just prior to Ferro Lad's death at the hands of the Sun-Eater. Later, they were revealed to be time-paradox duplicates, every bit as legitimate as their older counterparts. However, this version of Chameleon Boy was killed in battle (along with SW6's Princess Projectra and Karate Kid) fighting Dominion troops. ''Zero Hour'' Reboot Post-Zero Hour, Reep was known simply as 'Chameleon' and was not related to R. J. Brande. This time, he was the son of Durla's spiritual leader and heir to that title. During his first year of service with the Legion, his father and many of Durla's priesthood were slaughtered by the Composite Man, a mutant Durlan able to copy innate abilities as well as appearance. The Durlan people would repeatedly attempt to get Reep to assume his father's position, but Reep steadfastly refused, believing he served his people better as part of the Legion. Originally he did not speak Interlac (the universal language of the 30th century), and Invisible Kid had to translate. After learning the language, he feigned continued difficulty as a part of a sting operation against President Chu, organised by Invisible Kid's Espionage Squad. Once this was completed, he abandoned the ruse. He was the secret admirer of Spark, and they later began a relationship. He also maintained close friendships with Invisible Kid, Leviathan (until his death) and Sensor. 2005 "Threeboot" In the 2005 reimagining/reboot of the Legion, the character was still referred to as Chameleon, but is now portrayed as a completely androgynous, non-gender specific creature. Chameleon still has the power to change into any form at will, but the character's revised origin has yet to be revealed, although Jeyra Entinn, a female Titanian and telepath, squeezed out of his mind the image of a chilhood ambiguously described as filled with prejudices, which left him driven to achieve results as a detective and a Legionnaire as a way to achieve a better image for all Durlans. He is still a master detective and proficient not only in Interlac but in many aspects of life in the United Planets. He is currently able to mimic only the superficial appearance of people or animals, though duplicating most metahuman abilities is beyond his capacity; purely physical powers, however, are in his grasp (for example he can gain the sense smell of a dog and the infrared vision of an exotic beast, but not the heat vision or the superstrength of Superman). A minor difference to prior versions of the character is that his default form does not usually have visible antennae, although he produces them to analyse unfamiliar objects. Post-Infinite Crisis The events of the Infinite Crisis miniseries have apparently restored a close analogue of the Pre-Crisis Legion to continuity, as seen in "The Lightning Saga" story arc in Justice League of America and Justice Society of America, and in the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc in Action Comics. Chameleon Boy is included in their number. Other media Chameleon appeared in an episode of the Superman animated series with Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy titled "New Kids in Town". He was voiced by Jason Priestley. He later appeared in an episode of Justice League Unlimited titled "Far From Home". He appears in the second season of Legion of Super Heroes, voiced by Alexander Polinsky. In this series, Chameleon Boy is characterised as a generally humorous and wise-cracking character, similar to Beast Boy in the Teen Titans series, although he can be serious if necessary, and is prepared to defy Legion rules if he thinks they are unjust. Also like Beast Boy, he appears to be younger than his comic book counterpart. In his first appearance he commented "My dad's rich, remember?" and later episodes confirmed that this was a reference to R. J. Brande. References External links *A Hero History Of Chameleon Boy Category:DC Comics aliens Category:DC Comics superheroes Category:Extraterrestrial superheroes Category:Fictional shapeshifters Category:Fictional detectives Category:Fictional intersex people pt:Durla